Illusions Of A Dream
by xXTonyScullyXx
Summary: CRACK FIC! ONE LINER! COME HAVE A LAUGH AT OUR EXPENSE XD Tony is imagining things that are not real and consequently thinks that interesting things have happened :D - Please Review
1. Downward Spiral

**DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN NCIS OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! WE JUST LIKE TO PLAY WITH THEM XD**

Tony DiNozzo sat at his desk tiredly waiting for Ziva to get into work; drumming his fingers on the desk irritably he glanced up as he heard the elevator doors slide open. Hoping it was the person he'd been thinking about, he sighed in disappointment as McGee stepped out instead. Sighing Tony began to tap louder, which started to really annoy McGee, but before he could speak up, Gibbs marched into the bay.

"DiNozzo, get to Work." Gibbs barked out, glaring a little more harshly than usual at his senior field agent.

"Yes boss," Tony replied, muttering tetchily under his breath, "Where is Ziva?"

Gibbs simply glared at Tony, conveying to him that he didn't need to know. At that moment they all jumped as Tony's phone rang, Tony answered it, hoping that Ziva was at the other end.

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, how may I help you?" he answered in a flourish, sending a wink to McGee, who rolled his eyes, he only became silent upon hearing what the other person was saying on the other end of the phone.

"We regret to inform you that you have a sperm mobility issue." Tony was shocked, until he realised that the voice sounded somewhat familiar, "I scared you yes?" The voice was now behind him and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Too shocked or rather, scared to respond, Tony stood there his mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying and failing to find the words for a witty come back, he face flushed and he would have almost killed for a hole to swallow him up there and then.

Laughing seductively, Ziva brushed her fingers gently across his cheek, making him shiver, "Tony, I didn't realise you were cold." She whispered as she winked at him.

"What, I'm not, you just, ah… never mind," he sulked and plopped himself back down, having jumped up before when she'd scared him.

Tony jumped again as Gibbs slapped him on the back of the head, "Get back to work DiNozzo."

"But...she…" he started to say but stopped as the 'glare' was thrown his way again, looking over he saw Ziva smiling cheekily at him, as if taunting him with her womanly ways, he growled a little but not too much that it was heard.

After half an hour had past, Gibbs startled Tony by saying, "Gear up team, we've got a case."

**NCIS**

Tony stepped gingerly out of the car as they reached the crime scene, not wanting to upset his delicate stomach any further; but he had Ziva's driving to blame for that.

"What's up Tony, you eat bad pizza last night?" McGee teased; Tony glared but was cut off when Gibbs assigned them their usual jobs to do when at a scene.

Tony headed off towards the house when Gibbs yelled, "Tony, the other way! The homicide wasn't committed in the house, or weren't you listening?"

Grumbling, Tony stalked towards the scene of the crime, he came to a stop upon entering, shocked at the scene before him.

"Tony!" Ziva yelled into his ear making him hit his head on the low hung branches, "Ouch, Ziva!" he yelled back, but Ziva was already heading over to the body, giggling childishly.

Tony sighed, it just wasn't his day today, with any luck they may be able to solve this case relatively easily and then he could just go home and watch his movies.

Tripping over his feet, Tony muttered to himself irritably until the mutilated body stopped him in his tracks, "Oh my god, a child?"

"Great deduction, DiNozzo." Gibbs muttered sarcastically, not seeming to care that Tony had fallen, a look of loss crossed Gibbs face at the site of the child so Tony ignored the comment and got to work quietly.

"This really isn't my day," Tony mumbled petulantly as Ziva approached him, "What are you going to do now?" He snapped.

"Awww, stop being such a child, Tony." She replied while taking a few pictures of the sulking scowl that Tony now wore upon his face.

"Ziva! Quit taking pictures of Tony and focus on the body!" Gibbs shouted, surprising the two agents.

"Yes Gibbs." Both agents answered, Tony moved as far away from Ziva as he could so she couldn't get in anymore shots of him.

As much as Tony wouldn't admit it, the sight of the little girl horrified him beyond belief, "Yes it is rather disturbing isn't it Anthony?" Ducky spoke calmly, clearly noticing the repulsion etched on Tony's face.

Simply nodding in response to Ducky's comment, Tony started to work, trying not to look into the dead dark blue eyes of the child so brutally killed.

He couldn't avoid the child for long; there was something about her piercing blue eyes that pulled him in, but he couldn't bear to look at the deep knife wounds or the cord that was wrapped tightly around her neck.

Feeling nauseous, stumbling away from the body he struggled with a different image filling his vision, one so similar, but not the same.

He watched, unable to move as the images came on by full force, who was this child in his mind? And why was he only remembering it now?

Suddenly it came to him and the realisation felt like a bucket of icy cold water. Rubbing his eyes roughly as if to take away the memory, he tried to move further away from the body but was stopped when someone called out to him, "Tony, you are in my way." Ziva shouted irritably into his ear.

"Mmm... sorry..." He mumbled despondently, fighting the urge to run away from the scene.

Ziva noticed his pain, "Are you okay Tony?" She spoke worriedly, "You seem to be in distress, yes?"

He tried to think of a response but images kept on racing past his vision, he needed to get as far away as possible, he barely even registered Ziva's concern as he walked dazedly past her.

Ziva knew something was definitely wrong if Tony could not even come up with a response, let alone a witty one. Concerned for her partner, Ziva watched his stumbling and shaky steps away from the body, however, even she was surprised when his knees buckled and he emptied his stomach on to the ground.

Gibbs walked over to the pair, and after taking one look at Tony he turned to Ziva, "Take him home," but before Tony could complain he added, "Go slowly, you don't want him vomiting in the car."

McGee and Ducky both watched in surprise, it was Ducky, however who asked the question. "What is happening Jethro do you want me to look him over before Ziva takes him home?"

"No, I'm sure he will be okay, it's probably just a stomach bug." Gibbs replied, wishing that there wasn't a tiny voice in the back of his mind, telling him there was more to it.

Tony was only partially aware of what was happening, the surrounding sounds had been dulled by the screams of the little girl in his mind, screams begging for his help.

He tried his best to keep hold of reality, but there was no chance, all he heard, as he was gently bundled into the car by Ziva, was the ear-splitting screams of the terrified girl.

Ziva could only watch as a pain so deep cross his emerald green eyes, she wanted nothing more than to help him but didn't know how. "Tony, can you hear me?" She asked him as she drove off, "I am taking you home, and then I am going to stay with you tonight because I am worried about you, okay?"

By the low mumble of a voice, he knew someone was speaking to him but he couldn't hear the words, nothing was grounding him to this reality, only the other one in which he had tried so hard to forget.

When they reached his place, Ziva lifted him with ease as if he was a feather, and then placed him on the sofa, so she could keep an eye on him all night. She pottered around his apartment, looking over him every now and then, hoping for a change in his rigid posture. Tony groaned in pain and Ziva rushed over to him with a wet towel, she dabbed his forehead gently until he stopped writhing.

"Tony what is wrong?" She asked tenderly; but he merely ignored her and kept looking through her, as if she wasn't even there.

The bright lights flashed around Tony's mind as he tried to get a grip on why this was happening to him, the little girl screamed again then smiled at him. The smile changed to pain and the girl screamed at him, "You promised you'd save me, you promised." the small child was in tears at his feet, clawing at him to save her but he hadn't.

The little girl reminded him so much of Ziva, and he didn't understand why; he just watched as she circled around him primitively, her curly brown hair fluttering in the icy wind, "You promised you'd look after me, you're supposed to, it's your job!"

It took all his strength not to shout at the girl, quietly, he remembered the answers he had given previously when this nightmare surfaced.

"I'm sorry…I couldn't…I tried…I'm sorry." His voice wavered as the girl's blood leaked from around the rope around her neck, not knowing that Ziva could hear his voice he continued with his mantras of being 'sorry'.

Ziva was getting increasingly troubled by Tony's ramblings, particularly when he said something that shocked her beyond anything she'd ever known, "I don't want you to die, please!"

Who on earth was he talking to? Ziva was unsure but she put it down to delirium after he said, "But I'm in love with Ziva, don't hurt her!" He wasn't in love with her, that, she was certain about.

Tony had relived the moment right before the girls death, as if he'd been right there, right back to the exact moment the life was extinguished out of the girl's dark eyes. The only thing that was bothering him was his and Ziva's connection to this girl.

This girl in his dreams, she wasn't just a murdered child; it seemed that she wasn't the child they'd seen today. Her eyes were different, or maybe that was just his subconscious playing tricks on him. He would never know, not in his dreams.

Ziva calmed as Tony's eyes became clear and he blinked. "Ziva?" he whispered hoarsely, as she stroked his face gently.

"Tony, are you okay?" she replied anxiously.

"I'm fine." he answered, looking anything but fine. He was trembling beneath her fingers and all she wanted to do was wrap him in a hug but knew he'd never allow that kind of contact in his state. Instead she continued to stroke his face lightly; Tony looked up at her and smiled appreciatively and Ziva could not do anything but return the smile.

The smile however, faded as she asked the dreaded question. "What happened, Tony?"

Tony started shaking violently, "I… I…" he stuttered, "I saw a girl just like the homicide victim, but… she looked like you."


	2. A Violent Shock

The next day…

Sitting at his desk, Tony could not rid himself of the disturbing images that were plaguing his mind. He worried what Ziva really thought after seeing a look cross her face that he couldn't describe. Taking a deep breath, a horrifying thought crossed his mind; what if Ziva had heard him confess his love for her?

Would she hate him now that she'd heard that, did he believe it himself? But seeing her at her desk, pushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, he knew what his feelings really were, even if he was afraid to admit them.

Tony jumped when a head slap came his way and a gruff voice spoke out.

"What you doing here, DiNozzo?"

"I..I.." He stammered, "Working Boss?"

Gibbs glared, walked past Tony and to his desk. Ziva giggled in that smooth deep voice of hers, causing Tony to shiver.

"What's the matter Tony?" Ziva purred, "Is it too cold in here for you?"

"Err….n…no. Not at all." Tony stammered.

Before anything else could be said on the matter, Gibbs' phone rang.

"Oi! You Two!" Gibbs barked, "Abby's Lab, Now!"

**NCIS**

"Gibbs!" Abby screamed excitedly, "You would never realise how hard it is to avoid saying Jeez when you're with a group of nuns, I swear they were going to kill me by the time I'd said it a total of ten times! Ten times Gibbs!" Abby looked up at Gibbs' straight face, "Oh right, you wanna know about the case."

"Yeah Abs, that would be nice." Gibbs replied in his usual manner.

"Right, I found a partial thumbprint on the girl's neck. I ran it through AFIS, and, guess what Gibbs?"

"You got a match?"

"Yeah I got a match!"

Gibbs glowered at the Forensic scientist, signalling for her to actually tell him the results.

Abby clicked on a link on her computer and a picture appeared on the plasma screen. Strangely, he looked somewhat innocent, childlike even; he had short dirty blonde hair and striking grey eyes. However the eyes were devoid of life and only held malicious intent.

"Lieutenant Richard Hampar-Bright, just finished a tour in Iraq and is currently on vacation with his family in Colorado."

"Have they been informed?" Tony asked.

"They reported their daughter missing a year ago, but no one has found any evidence to suggest what had happened to her." McGee stated.

"Until now McGoo." Tony cut across sarcastically.

"DiNozzo, David, what are you waiting for? An invitation?" Gibbs ordered.

Tony looked guardedly at Ziva and responded. "Going to interview the family, Boss."

Gibbs saw the look but decided to not to comment, they were adults, they could deal with whatever was going on themselves.

**NCIS**

As he fastened his seatbelt, Tony cringed and closed his eyes, ready for Ziva to exit the car park at super speed.

He was surprised when he felt her moving away at a relatively normal pace. A warm feeling of relief washed over him, she was finally getting the idea of speed limits. That lovely warm feeling dissipated quickly as he contemplated the reason for her snail driving.

He became apprehensive when a tense silence resounded in the car. _Had_ she heard what he'd said the night before? He risked a glance at Ziva and mentally reprimanded himself as he discovered that she was staring at him.

"Feeling better, yes?"

"Yeah, just peachy."

"You seemed to be in a lot of pain yesterday. Are you sure your body can take anymore stress?" Ziva observed audaciously.

"Believe me, my body can take a lot." He smiled his charming smile and raised his eyebrows in response.

"I do not doubt that!" Ziva replied saucily looking his body up and several times, causing Tony to squirm.

Ziva smiled and turned her focus back to driving having teased enough for the moment. Tony could take it; it's not as if he really _loved_ her…

_Did he?_

He wanted to take his mind off the atmosphere of the car but the only other thing he could think of was the dead eyes of the little girl. Neither of the thoughts were appealing, so he settled for looking out of the window blankly.

Tony struggled to keep his eyes open, but just as he was about to give in to sleep, his head exploded in pain like he was being repeatedly stabbed.

"Tony… Tony!" Ziva cried, swerving off the road in a panic. She shook his shoulders violently, but he was gone.

As reality faded from him, he heard the girl again, screaming for his help. However, this time he saw as the light vanished from her streaming eyes. He needed to save her! But he couldn't, he knew how this one ended, barbed wire crushed the scream to a gurgle and blood leaked from around he girl's neck. Her eyes turned to him, blaming him for her not living.

"Please, help me!" She begged, "Please Tony!"

Tony tried to move but fear had paralysed him. He could do nothing but watch in terror as thick warm liquid poured out of the girl's mouth, staining her once white teeth. He turned his head, unable to view this theatre of horror anymore. But the image he saw when he turned his head was far worse. His eyes had found a woman, with hair matted with her own blood, and pain ridden eyes. She looked right through him, sending a chill crawling down his spine.

"Ziva…" He whispered in horror as the woman choked on the red rose fluid gurgling up from her damaged lungs. The grips of fear tried to suffocate him, but he managed to escape. Running towards Ziva he tripped, gashing his head on the ground. He touched his head and recoiled in horror as his hand came away covered in a thin film of blood. His blood. For a moment he remained still, until he remembered who was laying just a foot from him. Ziva was resting on the ground, her eyes dull and glassy.

Despite his horrendous injury, Tony crawled to her, tears welling up in his eyes. "Ziva…. No…. Please….Don't die…. I…. I Love You…. Ziva I Love You…. Please!" Stroking her cold skin he howled in pain; pain not caused by his head, but by the loss of a friend. "_No,"_ Tony corrected himself, the loss of a loved one.

Ziva sat next to Tony in the car, stroking his forehead gently. She felt so helpless, nothing seemed to arouse him. She shoved her feelings away as she checked his pulse. It was far too fast and she knew that could mean a multitude of things.

Pulling out her cell, she decided to phone Gibbs, but realising that there was no signal, she cursed in Hebrew. Hearing several loud bangs, she spun around, her eyes widened in shock. There was nothing she could do but hold Tony down as he convulsed violently.


	3. Kicked While Down

Ziva looked frantically at her surroundings, but the desert held no answers for the ever convulsing Tony. It took what seemed like hours for him to finally stop. Ziva gazed deeply into his panicked eyes, searching for a sign that he was okay. For a moment he seemed not to be able to focus and she worried that the convulsions had done some neurological damage.

Tony's eyes took time adjusting to the light and he was worried that he couldn't see, panicking he thrashed his arms about. "Calm down, Tony, it is okay, just listen to my voice." She responded as calmly and reassuringly as she could.

Through the blurry haze, Tony's eyes fixed on a dark shape in front of him, and sighed in relief as Ziva materialised in his eyes. He felt around for her hand, needing something to ground him to the world. Ziva took hold of his hand and put her hand to his face, as if she was searching for something, but she wasn't sure what. As their eyes met, and Tony's focused properly, they both calmed down instantly.

"Tony…" Ziva whispered worriedly, "Are you…"

Tony winced as if in pain but answered hoarsely "I'm fine my little ninja."

Ziva took a deep breath, her eyes glistened with the tears she was holding back and a smile played at the corners of her mouth. Tony smiled back but then frowned. "Zi, where are we?"

The smile lighting up Ziva's face vanished, "Colorado. You… you don't remember?"

Tony shook his head slowly; eyes worried, and then tried to move.

"No, don't move Tony," Ziva pushed him gently back down into the chair, "We need to keep you still."

"Why, we need to do...something." He was certain that he was forgetting to do something and tried getting up again; maybe if he moved around he'd remember something.

"No Tony!" Ziva replied, she was not going to back down, "You could have hurt yourself…" She sighed, "Don't move yet, please."

"But..." He silenced himself when he heard that damn scream again, where was it even coming from.

He grasped his head in pain, "Ziva! Help me please!" He cried in agony.

His eyes gazed into nothing again, he seemed so lost to what he was seeing, the only saving grace was that he hadn't convulsed yet.

Ziva couldn't take what she was seeing, not anymore. She made sure Tony was secure in the car, put her foot down, and drove with speed in any direction, hoping that it was towards civilisation. The tyres made a giant dusty trail as she accelerated even more in the dry, dirty landscape.

She tried to keep an eye on both Tony and the road in front of her, unfortunately the moment she looked at Tony was the moment another driver wasn't looking where they were going and she immediately swerved to miss the other person, the next thing she saw was white.

"Ziva?"

Hearing her name, she stirred and opened her eyes, "Tony…" She gasped as she saw him walking towards her.

She tried moving but stopped as she felt sharp pains shooting up the left side of her body. "Sssh, don't try to move, Zi." Tony reassured her, blood slowly dripping out of a cut on his forehead. She wondered when their roles had reversed.

Ziva sat blinking, wondering when the pain was going to kick in. Her eyes widened as she stared at Tony, "Tony… your head… on your feet?"

Tony rubbed Ziva's face soothingly, "Ziva, you're babbling, and I'm fine… it's just a cut."

"But, you were…" She started but he quietened her down with a wave of his hand as he looked around at the situation.

"Ziva, look," Tony whispered as he pointed at the tangle of cars, "We were in an accident, I'm fine. But you…"

"I what Tony" She was worried by the look he was failing to hide from her.

"Alright, throw it out Tony, how bad is it?" Ziva replied in annoyance.

"The phrase is spit it out Ziva." Tony sighed, "Your leg is trapped, but I'm going to try and get you out so we can get to the nearest town."

"What?" Ziva breathed, suddenly scared, she never got scared.

He placed a shaky hand on her face and looked deep within her eyes, "Like i said, don't worry, I'll get you out."

"And get myself checked out too," he muttered to himself, but the seizure was not at the forefront of his mind, Ziva was.

It took about 40 minutes to get Ziva free but they got there eventually. Her right leg and arm seemed broken, but she was bravely able to move. Tony allowed Ziva to lean on him after he had cleaned the deep gash up as best he could.

Glancing at the other car they knew the other driver was dead, his blood lay in pools around the mess of metal that was once his bonnet. Tony fought the urge to be sick at the sight of it, and noticed the sick feeling wasn't due to just that, he knew he'd been injured a little more than he'd let on, but the most important thing at this moment was getting Ziva somewhere safe.

An hour later, but what seemed like days, Ziva hobbled into Denver, supported by Tony. Tony knew he was lagging a little and he'd been feeling worse the last 15 minutes of the trip so far, however, the sight of a city filled him with a new rush of energy. They both looked at each other and smiled with relief, they could finally get help! The outskirts of the city seemed quiet; they hoped that someone driving past would see them.

Ziva felt herself go dizzy, grabbing on to Tony she tried to stay focused, but couldn't stop the darkness from overwhelming her and collapsed into a heap. Tony's reactions had been slowed down buy the head injury so hadn't caught her in time, he cursed and bent down to gather her into his arms, he ignored the stabbing pains in his abdomen. Grimacing as he took the full force of her weight, he held her tightly to his chest as he stumbled slowly into the town.

Eventually, he made it far enough into town where he could be seen and as if by luck a dark sedan stopped in front of him.

The driver got out and rushed over to the pair, "What happened?" he asked but got no answer as Tony thrust Ziva over and collapsed himself. The man was shocked and immediately called for an ambulance, not knowing what to do.

Ziva and Tony lay next to each on the dirty road, their hands touching as they drifted off into worlds of their own.


	4. Twisted Reality

As Tony opened his eyes and looked around, the first thing to come back to him was the thought of Ziva and how he had failed to keep her safe, he didn't even know where she was right now. Panicking, he tried to move out of the bed and almost ripped the IV line out.

"Easy Tony, you'll hurt yourself more," A familiar voice echoed across the room.

Tony blurry vision cleared enough to be able to identify the person in the room with him. "Gibbs?"

"No, it's McGee." Gibbs replied sarcastically, "Of course it's me."

"What ya doing here, boss." Tony shifted nervously in his bed. But before Gibbs could even get a word in; something more worrying entered Tony's mind, "Where's Ziva? Is she okay? What's happened to her?"

Gibbs held his hands up to stop Tony moving too much and replied. "She'd fine, she damaged her shoulder and she broke her leg but she's fine, you did good, you kept her safe."

Tony felt relieved, but it didn't last long, something felt really off here, "There must be more than that the steering column crushed her lower half. She's gotta have at least broken her other leg too."

"It looked worse than it was." Gibbs responded but knew that Tony's fear wouldn't leave until he'd seen her for himself.

At that point the nurse came in, smiling she came over to Tony, carrying what looked like fresh bandages, "Excuse me, but who are you talking to?"

"My boss" He looked around but found Gibbs gone, a frown graced his face.

The nurse suddenly looked concerned; this man was clearly more than a blunt force trauma victim. She looked at his chart, making sure nothing had been missed; she would bring it up with the doctors when he had changed his dressing.

Tony lay in the bed for a moment, pondering if anything he had done in last few days was really real, turning his head, he noticed something on the bed next to him, it was Ziva.

He took a long look at the person he'd set out to protect above all else and by the looks of it he'd failed. Big Time. She had machines around her, and by the looks of it they were keeping her alive.

Tony grabbed hold of the nurse's wrist, "Hey, what's going on? Why's Ziva so ill?"

The nurse's face turned harsh and evil. "Because you failed to protect her," the nurse got closer holding a large needle, "You've as good as killed her." She stabbed him with the needle and pressed the plunger to release whatever it was in it.

"Tony…" a soft voice pierced through his fear, "Come back to me Tony." Re-focusing his eyes, he saw Ziva sat in a wheelchair by his bed. Her face was covered in a mask of concern as her hand gently caressed his face.

"You...they, you were hurt and it was my fault, they said so." Tony was distraught and his pulse had started to race again.

"Tony." Ziva put up her hand to stop any interruptions, "I've called Gibbs; they all know about the car accident and are coming here."

"What's going on, where are we, Zi" Tony asked confused.

Ziva sighed, "Tony, we were in a car accident," she reiterated, "We're in the university hospital in Denver, Colorado… and I don't know what's going on." She finished, her eyes glistening with the tears she was adamant to hold back.

"Why do I keep seeing things?" Tony was desperate now; he'd obviously imagined Ziva being seriously hurt.

Ziva looked away for a moment, but turned back to Tony's expectant eyes, "I… I don't know Tony." She replied shakily.

"What are the doctors going to do about it? Where are they?" Tony asked hoping that she had the answers.

Ziva started to get irritated now, hadn't she made it clear that she didn't know anything? Luckily, she was saved from answering as both Gibbs and Ducky walked in. Ziva wheeled herself away from the edge of Tony's bed, allowing them through.

Ducky tutted as he took a look at Anthony's chart, "What have you done to yourself this time, my boy."

Tony grimaced and a small groan left his lips, causing Gibbs to roll his eyes. Ziva and Ducky looked at one another before Ducky returned his attention to Tony's chart.

"So, what's wrong with him, Duck?" Gibbs asked worried as he saw the look Ducky was giving the chart.

"It seems Anthony has an infection which caused convulsions and hallucinations."

"So what are they going to do?"

"I will make sure they prescribe him the right antibiotic, Jethro. He'll be fine in no time." With that Ducky walked out to search for the Doctor.

There was a silence in the room after Ducky exited. Gibbs' stare bore into Tony and he had to look away.

"What the hell happened out there DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked rather harshly, "Or you Ziva. Have any ideas? Coz I sure as hell don't."

Ziva took a deep breath, "I... am not sure Gibbs." She paused to give a small cough, "I don't know anything about Tony… but I, it was I who caused the accident Gibbs." Clearing her throat again, Ziva continued, "I was trying to get Tony to a hospital and was not looking where I was going. I am sorry."

Gibbs simply nodded at the explanation, in reality he'd just been worried about his Agents and when he was worried it usually came out as anger. Looking at his agents he saw they were tired. "Get some sleep," Tony was about to protest, "I mean it DiNozzo." He left the room so that they could rest.

"Err, Gibbs…" Ziva shouted after him. Gibbs popped his head around the door, "What, David?"

Ziva gestured to the wheelchair she was sat in, "I cannot get up without assistance, could you please help me?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes before marching across the room to the wheelchair. Seeing Gibbs lift Ziva, Tony thought it seemed effortless for the former marine. It only made Tony think of how he struggled to carry her barely half a mile.

Five minutes later, Ziva was securely in bed and Gibbs walked back out of the room and spoke without looking back, "I wasn't joking about the rest, DiNozzo."

"He has eyes in the back of his head." Tony muttered; his leg half out of bed.

Ziva laughed, "You have only just realised that, Tony?"

Tony glared at her, only causing her to laugh even more. "I wanted to see if you were okay is all." Tony mumbled, hiding his reddening face.

Ziva's dark eyes finally met his, the look they shared full of meaning, "I know, Tony. We need to sleep, yes?"

Tony nodded before lying back down to stare at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep now, his mind was racing. What on earth was happening to him? What was up with all the hallucinations, the crash and now this strangeness with Ziva?

Closing his eyes he tried to fall asleep but as soon as he did Ziva called his name seductively. She walked over, seemingly uninjured and wearing a slim fitting red dress. His mind now raced for a different reason.

Tony quickly opened his eyes again, his breaths coming in fast and irregular. Glancing over at the bed beside him, he noticed that Ziva had fallen into a peaceful sleep; feeling grateful that she was not awake to see his embarrassing awakening, Tony took several deep breaths. _Shit_, he thought to himself, _Ziva? Why?_

His heart was racing and he was anxious, he couldn't determine what was real and what wasn't. Getting up out of bed he needed to move around. Taking hold of his IV stand, he paced slowly up and down the room trying to get a grip on reality.

He did care for Ziva, a lot, but the feelings he was getting now? He wasn't sure if they were real, and that was frightening him more than the feelings themselves. He didn't want to hurt her, not more than he already had over the years if it could be helped. He couldn't act on what he was feeling right now, not without knowing for sure what it was. But if it was real…_Wow._ It would be the first time in a long time that he'd felt like that about anyone. Would he want to feel that for Ziva? He wasn't sure in the slightest.

Walking over to her bed he smiled at the calm look on her face, and reached out to stroke her wild hair. She stirred only slightly, a small smile graced her features and she seemed to relax more as he stroked. As if she could feel it but didn't mind that it was him. Did he imagine it? Or was she actually smiling softly at him? Walking back to his bed, Tony was definitely calmer than before. Maybe he'd get some sleep now. _There's at least one good thing about tomorrow_, he thought, _we get to go home_. And with that thought, he drifted off into a deep sleep.


	5. Final Piece To The Puzzle

**WARNING! THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M FOR MATURE CONTENT, PROCEED AT OWN DISCRETION!**

Waking up slowly, the first thing Tony did was make sure Ziva was in the room with him, he wasn't having her getting hurt again. He winced as he swung himself over the edge of the sofa, careful not to stand on Ziva as she slept soundly in a bright red sleeping bag, her big cast hanging out of the end. He wondered slightly why he found himself in his apartment and with Ziva there… Then it clicked, he vaguely remembered the doctor telling him that he could go home on one condition, that someone was with him for 48 hours.

He moved around slowly and quietly so as not to wake her; he headed to his kitchen in order to start some breakfast for them both. Smiling to himself he thought about the look Gibbs had given them yesterday after Ziva had offered to look after him. It had been a look that said they'd better know what they were doing and that they'd better be careful. Tony shook his head as he threw some eggs into a pan and proceeded in frying it.

He heard movement in the other room and went to check on Ziva and to see if she wanted a drink with the breakfast he was cooking up. She was still lying in the sleeping bag, her wild hair hiding her face; Tony frowned in confusion, he could have sworn he heard her get up… but a second later her hand flew up and consequently pushed the tangle of hair from her face. Seeing that she was somewhat settled but not awake yet, he returned to the cooking food. As he was walking back he thought he saw the form of a little girl out of the corner of his eye, upon looking again, there was nothing. Shaking his head he started to walk into the kitchen again.

After the eggs were done, he put some toast on; maybe focusing on what he was doing would push the images out of his mind.

"Tony…" Ziva called in from the other room, pulling Tony out of his reverie. Tony followed her voice through what seemed like a thick haze and asked what she would like for a drink.

"Just water, please," Ziva replied, "And um, Tony, could you please help me onto the couch?"

"Sure." Tony moved her carefully to the couch and propped her leg slightly up on the pillows.

Ziva smiled at him, "Thank you."

Tony smiled back and couldn't help but notice how nice she looked in the off-white nightdress, her wild hair framing her face. Coughing, he returned to the kitchen to finalise the cooking. After another 10 minutes, the food was done, and Tony brought the two plates of food through to the living room.

They ate in silence, Tony kept trying to say something but could not meet Ziva's eyes; every time he looked her way, he was reminded by how good she looked. He couldn't help thinking of Paris and how good she looked then, curled up next to him in the same off-white nightdress.

After he'd cleared away their plates he returned to the room to find Ziva watching his every move as if wanting him to be closer. Tony took a deep breath and sort of half threw half slid himself onto the couch, ruining his 'smooth move'. Ziva laughed deeply, "What was that Tony?"

Tony coughed, "I, um, tripped."

The reply did no more than make Ziva laugh harder. But why did it sound so damn seductive? Tony was becoming more uncomfortable by the minute. Ziva placed her hand lightly on his leg; he tried to ignore how right it felt. Meeting her eyes, Tony saw that they were bursting with desire and a sparkle that seemed like… no it couldn't be… he must be going crazy. Or he wasn't crazy and she really was looking at him like that, and she really was moving her hand up his leg.

Ziva tried to sit up more, but the weight of the cast over balanced her and she landed on Tony's chest. Tony winced at the weight but she move around slightly and they seemed to fit together perfectly, her hand had moved from his leg to his chest. Ziva slowly rocked against him, causing him to moan which was quickly disguised by a cough, "This is nice Zeevah; I miss this."

Ziva let out a small laugh in response, "I can tell Tony."

Looking down meaningfully, Ziva pushed her body softly against his. "This feels very familiar Tony. Undercover?" She smiled and paused before adding, "Paris?"

"I will say the same thing I said then," Tony replied jokingly, "That's just my knee."

She laughed softly and placed a soft kiss upon his lips, he thought it was a bit weird the way this was going but he liked it and didn't want it to stop yet. Ziva pulled back, pushing for a response from Tony, and she got it. Tony leaned in towards Ziva, his soft lips parted. Ziva flicked her hair and stroked his cheek, "Tony," She grinned before bringing her lips down to meet his.

Their lips tingled as they brushed, the enjoyable sensation only spurring them on more. As Tony started to close his mouth, Ziva flicked her tongue inside creating an explosion of fire as it caressed his. Moaning in unison they both pulled back, but they couldn't keep away from each other for long.

As Ziva went in to kiss Tony again, he began tugging at her nightdress, eager as ever to get it off. Ziva pushed her body into his and thrust her tongue back into the soft, warm centre of Tony's mouth, setting off fireworks as it danced with his.

Tony whimpered as his hands wandered up the back of her nightdress. The tender caress of his hands down her back caused her to moan.

"Oh, Tony." she sighed as she arched her back flinging her hair back with her head.

Knowing that he had her where he wanted her, Tony lifted the nightdress up, and was pleased when Ziva responded by raising her arms.

Tony gasped as her breasts came into view and marvelled at the beauty of her body. Ziva didn't miss Tony's obvious enamour with her streamlined form and laughed girlishly, "I have you now Tony."

She moved in again, planting another soft slow kiss onto his lips. Tony whined again, "Ziva…."

Smiling Ziva pushed her tongue against the gate of teeth, sighing in pleasure as Tony obliged. Rocking slowly against his solid body, Ziva yanked at his shirt. Tony pushed at her hands, eager as she was to get the top off. Without breaking the hot kiss, Ziva ripped the shirt off, causing buttons to fly everywhere. Tony stopped still mid-kiss in shock.

Ziva laughed heartily and pulled back to look at Tony's wide-eyed stare, "My little hairy butt?"

Tony recovered quickly and shook his head, "My…" But was stopped mid-sentence by Ziva's sharp tongue. The burst of sensation that it was giving was almost too much to bear for Tony and he had to pull her fully naked body in closer. Stroking her back with one hand and softly fondling her breast in the other prompted a response from Ziva, and she groaned loudly in gratification.

Tony chuckled lightly, "Too much for my ninja?" His eyes sparkled at this revelation.

Ziva laughed deeply, "I am what you call, a screamer, yes?"

Tony leaned in to kiss Ziva again, his lips brushing against hers, but before Tony had got his tongue against her teeth, Ziva pulled back teasingly. Smiling alluringly, she let her hands wander. Her soft fingers stroked his face gently, burning a trail of pleasure as they slowly, tauntingly worked their way down his body.

Reaching the waistband of his pants, Ziva slipped her hand inside. Encouraging Tony to lift himself up, Ziva pulled his pants down so that they were in a bundle around his ankles. Sitting back on Tony's lap, Ziva gazed in awe and at the tight form in front of her. Smiling provocatively, she inclined herself towards Tony; her legs placed either side of his athletic build.

"Tony, my little hairy butt," she laughed into his mouth as her soft warm lips caressed his in a gentle embrace, their tongues enfolding in a frenzy of desire.

"Oh Ziva, my sexy ninja," Tony cried, completely under her spell. He did not want this to stop. He'd definitely missed the old, wild Ziva he once shared a bed with all those years ago. He was definitely not going to stop this.

"Sexy ninja? I am a ninja, yes?" Ziva smiled as she pushed herself against Tony, making them fit as perfect puzzle. They both gasped loudly as Ziva began sliding herself against Tony, pitching her body slowly in time with his.

Tony grabbed hold of her perfectly shaped butt and pulled her into him, causing Ziva to arch her back in response. Her breast hung over him and Tony took one into his mouth, rolling the hardened bud with his agile tongue. "Oh god, Zeevah," Tony moaned as she pressed her opening lightly against him.

"I thought that was just your knee," She grinned wickedly, "My mistake."

Tony glared at her before pulling her body into his, thrusting into her moist centre causing her to scream in ecstasy. "Oh, Tony," She moaned, into his mouth as he kissed her deeply. His tongue copying what his groin was doing, flicking hard into her mouth.

To say Ziva was vocal was an understatement as she moaned enthusiastically. This urged Tony on more as he thrust deeper into Ziva.

She screamed and dug her nails into Tony's back.

"Ow, Zeevah!" Tony breathed heavily, moving his hand round to his back in a futile effort to stop her scratching him to death, "Oh God…"

Tony's voice was muffled by Ziva's mouth, "Shut up Tony," She mumbled into his soft cheeks as she rode him harder and faster. The sides of her core squeezed around him as she came ever closer to climax.

Rocking as one, the couple pushed themselves towards the inevitable. Ziva's walls closing ever tighter, compelling Tony to drive himself upwards and harder into her. Ziva arched her back and flicked her wild hair to one side as she writhed on top of Tony in satisfaction.

Moaning hard, Tony made one last effort and thrust himself all the way to the core of Ziva and his whole body shook as he reached his climax. Coming into her centre he was pleased to feel her climax as her muscles convulsed around him.

Gasping, Ziva climbed awkwardly off Tony, not noticing the pain in her leg as they both lay down together on the couch.

"Well, that was nice, Zeevah." Tony breathed heavily as he stroked her side gently with hand, "How I've missed my ninja."

Ziva laughed, "I noticed my little hairy butt."

Tony pulled the blanket over them and even though it was the middle of the day, they both fell soundly asleep, content with what they had done.

**NCIS**

Waking up again, Tony stretched his arms and immediately felt for Ziva. Finding an empty space next to him, he panicked and jumped into the sitting position on the couch. Hoping that she hadn't fallen out and was unable to get back in because of her leg, Tony glanced at the floor.

He was relieved at the sight before him; it seemed as if Ziva had crawled back into her sleeping bag. As weird as it seemed that she hadn't remained on the couch, Tony was just relieved that she was alright.

Leaning over, he stroked her face, "Wake up my ninja," he murmured.

Ziva opened her tired eyes and pushed her wild hair out of her face, "Eurgh, Tony, I was sleeping yes?"

Continuing to stroke her face, Tony smiled, "Are you okay, my ninja?"

Ziva froze, "Your… what? Tony?"

Tony frowned in confusion, "You liked me calling you that earlier…"

Ziva yawned, trying to hide her shock as she spoke calmly, "Earlier Tony? Forgive me if I am too tired to understand what on earth you are talking about."

Closing her eyes again, Ziva consequently snoozed. Tony was frozen in place. He didn't know what to think. Perhaps Ziva was just tired from what they'd done earlier. But he couldn't eradicate the single worrying doubt plaguing his mind. What if… he'd hallucinated it all?


	6. Misconceptions

He'd decided, in that split second where she looked at him in confusion, that he would forget the whole thing and would try to ignore the images running through his mind. He'd also ignore what he thought he'd seen before that full blown hallucination. Shaking his head, he returned to the task Gibbs had set him, going through phone records on his first day back was boring to say the least.

Looking through the phone records was boring him and his mind started to drift to particular images again, shaking his head he looked across to Ziva, not being able to hide the look of lust in his eyes that he knew would be there.

Gibbs walked passed and briefly looked at both his Agents, there was an awkward atmosphere lingering and he didn't like it, something had gone on while Ziva had been observing Tony and he didn't like not knowing what was happening.

Ziva sat in silence, the past days with Tony had been quite uncomfortable, since his big faux pas calling her 'his sexy ninja', she had not been able to look him in the eye. Tony felt bad for having made Ziva uncomfortable, he'd ruined the working relationship they normally had and people were now getting suspicious about them and it was all his fault.

The elevator chimed and the doors slid open as McGee entered the bull pen, "Welcome back guys." He said heartily, but stopped still, caught in the icy stare between Tony and Ziva, "I'm just gonna… go see Abby." He finished quickly and raced across to the other elevator, running smack bang into Gibbs.

"Where are you going McGee?" Gibbs barked at him.

"I, uh, I… nowhere boss."

"Right, so get back to work." Gibbs glared at McGee until he started back to his desk.

Returning to his own desk, Gibbs tried to ignore the tension between two of his agents.

"DiNozzo, David, with me, now!" Gibbs almost shouted; the looks on Tony and Ziva face could only be described as fearful from Tony and confusion from Ziva. Tony felt like he was going to his doom as they were lead to the elevator.

Silence resounding around the small metal box that three people now occupied. One looked nervously down at his feet, one looked straight ahead wondering what was going on here and the other glared at his Agents. There was something wrong here and it needed coming out if they were to work together.

"Speak." Gibbs ordered, his patience wearing thin.

He first glared towards Tony, his senior agent, hoping for some kind of answer.

"Nothing's going on boss." Tony responded a little too quickly. He couldn't let people worry that there was something wrong with him and he needed to work, he'd spent enough time not working recently. He wasn't being useful as an invalid.

He then glared to Ziva, who looked more confused than anything. "Did something happen, Ziva." Gibbs asked.

Ziva shook her head firmly and it looked honest in Gibbs' opinion, but there was still something going on.

Gibbs then released the emergency stop and turned to leave the elevator. "Sort. It. Out." And he just left them there in the enclosed space.

Gibbs wasn't certain about anything they had done but as long as it didn't affect how they worked he didn't care and this, whatever it was, was affecting work so they needed to sort it out.

"What's happening boss?" McGee immediately asked as soon as Gibbs sat down. Receiving a glare in response, McGee put his head down, "Right boss, working."

"Good, McGee." Gibbs replied.

Tony looked down at the floor again; he didn't even know where to start. He kicked his feet on the floor and wrung his hands together, he tried looking at Ziva but he couldn't find it within him to do it, he could tell that he'd made her seriously uncomfortable and he hated himself for it.

Ziva took his hand gently, "Tony, look at me." Meeting his eyes she continued calmly and carefully, "What's wrong. Please, you must tell me."

"I..." He didn't even know how to phrase what was in his head. "Nothing." Tony stuttered and looked down again.

Ziva started to get irritated, "Tony! Do you think I'm stupid? I know something went wrong. But you clammed up when I asked you the other day!" Ziva punched the wall in fury, "For God's sake Tony, I need to know if we are going to sort this out!" She slumped back into the wheelchair, feeling momentarily defeated, "I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"I don't know." Tony finally confided, and he didn't know what was wrong, all he did know was what he had thought he'd seen.

Ziva breathed in deeply, "Tony, okay, you do not know." She put her hands to her face and massaged her temple, "I think you may have hallucinated Tony, tell me what you saw. It is okay."

"I don't...i saw a girl...i saw us, but then everything was back to normal." Tony seemed confused and he was trying to be honest to her but he just couldn't explain what had happened fully.

Ziva took hold of his hand, "You imagined us having sex, Tony." It wasn't a question, merely a statement of a thought that had been forefront in her mind; it seemed to be the only reason he was acting the way he was, and why he'd called her his ninja.

Tony slowly nodded his head, he tried looking at her as well and found it a little easier this time knowing that she knew what he had seen, but another thought occurred to him, what if she told Gibbs or Ducky what was wrong with him, then he wouldn't be able to work and he'd be useless.

"Please don't tell, Gibbs." Tony pleaded.

"Look at me Tony," Ziva spoke quietly, "I'm not going to telling anyone anything. There is no need for anyone to know this. But you must try and see a doctor Tony, because this may even get worse." She smiled sympathetically at him, "And McGee already thinks we've had sex."

Tony couldn't help but smile at that last comment, his brain also thought they had had sex. "I'll go see a doctor if there is another one, there hasn't been one since then." Tony semi agreed.

Ziva nodded and hit the on switch for the elevator, "Let's go face Gibbs."

Tony groaned, "This should be fun."

As they stepped out of the elevator they smiled at each other, it had been good to get things out in the open and they now felt that they could work together without any awkwardness, although that didn't mean they couldn't have any fun with what other people were thinking about them.

"Hey boss, what happened with the family we were going to interview." Tony wondered curiously, he'd missed enough of this case and he wanted to focus on something other than his own health.

"Interviewed the family, they were distraught, they thought they still had a chance of finding their daughter alive even after all this time." McGee jumped in with the answer Tony had been looking for. "We're now checking everything to see if it was just a coincidence about the finger print, it could have just been nothing and the dad couldn't remember anything, it had been over a year ago. We did find the print a bit hinky because it would have degraded after so much time but his alibi checked out."

"So basically we have nothing" Tony asked rhetorically, McGee nodded and they all got back to work.

After a few moments Gibbs' phone rung, he listened for a few moments then shouted to his team to 'Grab their gear' They all rushed and headed to the elevator.

"This connected to the case boss." Gibbs glared at Tony for the stupid question but answered anyway.

"Another girl has been found dead."

"If another girl has been found dead boss, shouldn't the FBI handle it or something? It's not really navy related." McGee asked, confused.

"It is, if it's the Hampar-Bright's second daughter." Gibbs replied.

"Second daughter, i didn't think they had another one boss." Tony asked as the team rode down in the elevator.

"Well, that's what happens when you're in a car accident, DiNozzo." Gibbs replied sarcastically.

Tony fell silent and looked down again, he felt like such a screw-up right now. First he left Gibbs two agents down, then he got Ziva hurt and now he apparently he couldn't remember having read a file and remember information out that may have been important. Maybe he should go to the Doctor, but not until he saw this case through.

"Boss, you have to admit, this case is getting pretty hinky," McGee piped up.

Tony glared at him, "What is it with you and the word hinky? I think you've been spending too much time with Abby."

McGee just smiled, "Funny, I was about to say the same about you and Ziva."

But before Tony could come up with a witty response, he felt the clout of Gibbs' hand on the back of his head and heard a resounding 'Ow' from McGee as he received the same treatment.

"Sorry Boss," they both spoke in unison.


	7. Repeating History

Arriving at the crime scene, Tony had smiled cheekily every time McGee had looked at him during the journey, no harm in having a little fun. To fuel the fire more, Tony wheeled Ziva's chair round to the door and consequently lifted her gently from the car. McGee scowled at the pair of them and turned to actually do some work; Tony and Ziva shared a look and tried not to outright laugh at a crime scene.

Gibbs made his way around the car, causing Tony to jump back from Ziva and scratch his head nonchalantly.

"DiNozzo, David, interviews and sketches." Gibbs barked out trying not to smile himself at the way they were winding McGee up.

"Right Boss," Tony replied as he turned away and started to push Ziva along the gravel path. He pushed Ziva towards the witness who had found the body, winked at her and walked towards the crime scene to start his sketches from all angles.

As he arrived at the girl's body, McGee gave him a funny look, "I see you and Ziva are getting along well."

Tony smiled knowingly at him, "I could say the same about you and Abby." Reciting almost the words McGee had told him in the elevator before they had arrived here.

"Nice, Tony." McGee replied in frustration, "Real mature."

Tony simply grin his toothy grin away at him in return and walked away in order to get a wider view of the crime scene. He knew McGee's eyes were following him and he made a real effort not to laugh as he began sketching the sight in front of him.

The sight in front of him was disturbing, just like the last, his mind might have been a little weird lately but he remembered every crime scene he saw and generally couldn't get them out of his mind, especially if the cases involved children. Taking a deep breath he glanced up, thankfully, McGee had resumed taking pictures and could not see the disturbed look on Tony's face.

Shaking his head to get rid of the images rushing through his mind, he looked back at Ziva, as if she were his grounding point when his mind wanted to do other things. Ziva caught him looking and smiled at him warmly before resuming with her interview.

"Can you tell me what you saw" Ziva asked the shaken female witness.

The young woman took a deep shaky breath, "Erm, I was walking home from the library, I'd stayed late to finish my term paper which is due in on Friday. And um, I heard a scream, so I um, I came to look, and… and …"

Ziva smiled comfortingly, "It's okay, please continue."

"There was blood everywhere...I, um I thought I saw a shadow but couldn't see a face...I'm sorry, I didn't see anyone." The girl looked fearful when she spoke next, "What if he saw me?"

"Okay, if you are worried, I am sure we can get you some protection for you." Ziva answered sympathetically as Gibbs walked over.

She nodded at Ziva but cowered a little as Gibbs came close to them, she was still quite shaken by the events and new people seemed to scare her, Ziva and Gibbs frowned slightly. "Did the person threaten you" Gibbs asked. She may not have seen him but that didn't mean he couldn't threaten her.

The red-head looked confused, "Threaten? No, I meant if he'd seen me, he could, he could do the same to me right?" Looking from Ziva to Gibbs, the woman waited expectantly for an answer. They shared a look for a moment, maybe the girl was generally nervous and there was nothing else to it. Gibbs shook his head, "We will catch him." His voice was firm and commanding.

The girl nodded slowly, "Okay, sure."

**NCIS**

"You done, McGee?" Tony s loudly right behind him.

McGee jumped, "Jeez Tony, I was concentrating." Glaring at Tony McGee took one last picture, as if to show Tony he'd finish when he decided to, before nodding, "Done Tony."

"Me too, now, do tell me about you and Abby, McAbby." Tony laughed; this was just too much fun.

Instead of getting the usual irritated response from McGee, Tony was surprised when he smiled unreservedly, "Nothing Tony, we're just friends… unlike you and Ziva."

Tony's smile only grew more. "That's something only for me and Ziva to know." Then he left McGee with a shocked look upon his face. He made his way over to Ziva, "You should really see McGee's face, he's practically wetting himself over this," Tony laughed as he took hold of the handles of Ziva's chair and began to push her back to the car. While Tony and Ziva were laughing, Ducky arrived, fuming about Palmer's navigation skills again.

"If you can't read a map, I'd suggest you learn, and quick," an enraged Ducky declared to a bright red Palmer as they got out. Gibbs followed both Ducky and Palmer towards the body to see what they could learn while they were there.

"Bad business, Jethro." Ducky stated, "Killing young girls. Reminds me of a time…" glancing up at Gibbs he caught the glare directed at him, "…that I should save for another time perhaps," He finished.

"Anything yet, Duck" Gibbs asked while looking over to see what his other Agents were doing.

"If you give me a minute, I might actually have something," Ducky replied as he stuck the liver probe into the girl, reading the results he continued, "Suspected time of death is approximately 12 hours ago."

"Anything else yet?" Gibbs was impatient, he hated cases that involved children and this was their second in a row.

Ducky gave Gibbs a meaningful stare, before retuning his attention to the body, "As you can see this case is related to our last, this girl has died in the same manner. See the cord around her neck?"

Gibbs nodded and took in what he was seeing with an unreadable look upon his face.

The sound of laughter made the three turn around; to see Tony and Ziva messing about in the driveway.

"DiNozzo, David!" Gibbs yelled. "Will you stop acting like children and do something useful."

"Sorry Boss," Tony replied quickly, "What should we do?"

"Oh, I dunno, help McGee, search the family's house." Gibbs retorted.

Tony wheeled Ziva through the door of the house, the body had been found in the drive way, originally it had shocked them all that it seemed so public and yet only one person had seen anything. It was just a little too strange to make sense. As they passed into the hallway, Tony was suddenly in awe, "Wow, I'd feel like a king living here!"

Ziva rolled her eyes, "Yes Tony, because simply owning a big house makes someone a king."

Tony smirked and they went separate ways, Tony headed up the stairs while Ziva searched the ground floor.

"What do you want, McGee?" Ziva spoke without looking behind her, knowing automatically that McGee was staring at her.

"Did you and Tony...err…" He'd lost his courage and Ziva smiled and turned away from him.

"Did Tony and I what, McGee?" She replied mischievously, feigning innocence as she manoeuvred herself into the living room.

"Ahhh, never mind," McGee mumbled and walked in the opposite direction.

Ziva laughed lightly to herself, Tony was right, this was fun.

All three agents looked through the house for a while and there didn't seem to be anything out of place or out of the ordinary. Meeting up again in the hallway, they headed out of the front door together, and straight into Gibbs.

"Find anything" They all shook their heads. "Nothing" Tony replied. "Where's her parents" He asked, a sad look crossing his eyes.

Gibbs just stared at Tony before heading back over to Ducky. Looking down at Ziva, Tony rolled her back towards the car.

Tony stared after Gibbs for a moment and then was distracted by Ziva, who had twisted round in her chair, "They have the same parents Tony." She informed him quietly, the 'don't you remember' was implied and a worried look briefly crossed her face.

Tony slapped himself lightly across the back of his head, "Oh yeah… I forgot." He flashed his 'don't worry' smile back at her.

They all rushed after Gibbs, not wanting to be left behind at the crime scene. Tony lifted Ziva gently out of her wheelchair and into the car again, getting the same look from McGee that they'd got when they'd arrived. They both smirked this time knowing that they'd maybe had a little too much fun this morning. But after glancing at one another, they knew that the fun was just beginning.

The ride back to headquarters was a nightmare for McGee, and he'd thought this morning was bad. Stepping gingerly out of the car, he took one look at Gibbs and ran to the bathroom.

Gibbs smiled and helped Tony with Ziva. "Do ya have to wind him up so much." But Gibbs was smiling while he was saying it.

"Of course boss, he know we do it 'cause we care," Tony replied cheekily.

Gibbs shook his head in amusement and gave them both a light head slap to make them focus on work.

Gibbs walked through the basement to the elevator, followed by Tony rolling Ziva.

Once they were situated back at their desk, they got back to work. "Should we bring the parents back in boss?"

Gibbs looked at Tony as if he'd suddenly got an amusing idea in his head, "McGee, with me."

Tony looked confused, "What should we do boss?"

"What do you think Take Ziva and go protect the witness." Gibbs smirked and McGee looked surprised at the look that Ziva and Tony now shared.

"B..Boss?" Tony stuttered, shocked that Gibbs had called his and Ziva's bluff. Whether he'd thought they'd had sex was irrelevant now.

"Do I stutter or something DiNozzo?" Gibbs pointed at him and then at Ziva, "You and you, go."

Ziva gave tony a look which translated as, nice move, now what?

As McGee and Gibbs walked away, they swore they could hear the pair arguing.

Gibbs gave the scene a brief look, Tony had lost his stride and looked decidedly pale and Ziva looked as if she was about to kill Tony with something small and that it was going to be painful. Laughing mentally to himself, he walked into the elevator, quickly followed by McGee.

"You just had to continue it." Ziva growled.

"Well you didn't exactly stop me, you even joined in." Tony replied with a look of hurt upon his face, it wasn't completely his fault. He sulked as he gathered his back pack and started to roll Ziva towards the elevator. Of course, after making sure that Gibbs and McGee had already gone.


	8. Delicate Balance

The safe house was filled with an awkward silence, as neither Tony nor Ziva would admit their idiocy with McGee. The witness stared at them, wondering why she was being protected by two agents who didn't seem to be getting along.

After what seemed like hours, Ziva finally spoke out of exasperation, "This is ridiculous, Tony."

Tony glared childishly at her as if to say 'noooo, really?'. Ziva returned the stare, aiming a swipe at his head. Tony ducked and fought the urge to say 'missed me'.

"Um, can I go to the bathroom?" the witness piped up uncomfortably.

The quiet words seemed to make the two agents actually stop bickering and think about what they should be doing.

Ziva blinked and shook herself out of that particular frame of mind, "Sure, it is just there." She replied to the young woman, gesturing to the door across from them.

However, as soon as the witness was behind the door, Tony again turned to disturb Ziva, this time reaching over to tap her on the shoulder just to be annoying. Ziva caught this action out of the corner of her eye and batted his hand away, "Oh, how mature, Tony."

Tony slumped down into the sofa and sulked. This riled Ziva to no end and she finally snapped, slapping him on the head, "Tony! Why do you always have to be so childish?"

Rubbing his head he answered the question. "It makes the job more entertaining."

"Argh! Tony! Why do you always have to revert back to immaturity when you cannot talk about something so personal and serious?" She growled, finally losing her temper with him.

Tony actually stopped moving for a moment and thought about what he was going to say.

After finishing in the bathroom, the young woman slumped back down onto the toilet; hearing raised voices next door, she decided it would be best to stay out of the situation, at least until they'd started behaving like mature adults.

Tony squirmed under the pressure of wanting to give her an actual answer but not quite knowing what to say, "I'm sorry, Ziva."

Ziva took a deep breath and took hold of his hand, "Tony, I don't want an apology." She responded, looking at him understandingly, "I just want to know why. Why did you choose to visualise me?"

"I….I don't…" Tony stopped for a moment trying to gather the courage to say or do something that would mean something to her; he gently placed his hand on her face and looked deep into her eyes, trying to convey what he couldn't find the words for.

Ziva smiled, using her eyes to convey just a moment of vulnerability to him, so he would realise that she understood what he was trying to say.

Hearing that it seemed to have gone quiet the young woman ventured back out into the room where the agents were, only to see them sitting really close together and sharing an intimate moment.

Tony heard the sound of the door and looked up to see the red-head walking into the room, her eyes glued to the floor. Embarrassed, Tony pulled away from Ziva and pretended to be looking out of the window for any danger.

"Are you okay, Eve?" Ziva asked her naturally, expressing the message that everything was how it should be.

**NCIS**

"Boss, Tony…Ziva?" McGee stuttered looking at Gibbs with confusion.

Gibbs just faintly smiled before returning his attention to the road ahead.

Knowing that was the only answer he was going to get McGee started to think about the family they were going to bring in; it was a little suspicious that both their daughters had been killed in the same way and one on their own driveway while they were nowhere to be seen.

"Boss, don't you think that this case is a bit suspicious?" McGee finally spoke up, voicing his concerns.

"Well yeah, McGee," Gibbs replied, "Why do you think we're bringing them in?"

Arriving at the family's house the wind whipped through the open, battered door. Noticing the state of the house, Gibbs and McGee rushed out of the car with their guns drawn.

Carefully walking to the door, Gibbs and McGee were hit with the acrid smell of burning; backing off from the wrecked building, Gibbs whipped out his phone and rang the fire department.

They were just going to wait for the fire department but they heard an ear splitting scream that made them both rush into the house to find where it had come from, despite the fact that smoke was now seeping out of the front windows.

Racing up the stairs, Gibbs was now faced with a wall of fire, which seemed to be between him and the terrified woman. The woman had dirty blonde hair, and was wearing nothing but sweat pants. McGee, who had just made it up the stairs, stared in shock and was subsequently slapped by Gibbs, "Quit it, McGee!"

The women screamed again and noticed that there were men in the room with her and tried to cover herself up.

"Boobs! Er… Boss!" McGee stumbled over his words with embarrassment, "How are we going to get through?"

Gibbs looked around for a few moments and found a large blanket, completely ignoring McGee's mistake and proceeded to lay it on top of the flames and rescued the woman.

**NCIS**

After establishing that their witness was okay, Tony proceeded to fall asleep. His dreams were plagued with the weighty emotional words exchanged with Ziva; causing his body to toss and turn in the waking world.

Hearing the annoying ringing of a cell phone Tony jumped up to find that Ziva's hand was by his ear and shaped like his phone, blinking and looking several times he wondered what world he had woken up to.

Ziva sat impatiently by Tony, holding the phone to his ear; but the ringing was failing to arouse him, so she picked up, "David."

"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked.

Ziva rolled her eyes at the snoring mass of Tony, "Asleep."

"And," There was a slight pause and Gibbs spoke again, "Get him up!"

A wicked smile played at the corners of her mouth, "With pleasure."

Looking around, she spotted a glass and rolled into the kitchen to fill it up with ice cold water.

An evil glint sparkled in her eye as she rolled herself to the couch; smiling an ear-splitting grin, she tipped the glass, pouring its entire contents over his sleepy face. Tony shrieked, jumping out of his skin and consequently leaping off the couch, hitting his head off the table and landing in an undignified heap on the floor. Ziva's laughing echoed around the room as Tony, only just realising he was wet, shook his head like a dog to get it all off.

Starting to feel dizzy from shaking his head, Tony stopped and held his hand to his head for a moment trying to stop the room from spinning. Placing his hand on the table for support, he stood up and blinked his eyes a few times before turning to face Ziva.

"He up yet?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

Ziva thought about it a second, "Giving him a moment to connect his brain to his mouth," she replied.

Taking a few deep breaths the room settled and he looked towards Ziva, conveying that he was ready to take the phone now. Time seemed to physically slow down; in the few seconds it took for Tony to reach out for the phone, a number of things happened. 1. An excruciating slicing pain seared through his temple. 2. His hands flew up to his burning skull and 3. He wobbled and collapsed into a crumpled pile of skin and bones on the floor.

Eve entered the room just as Tony collapsed and stared on in horror at the scene unfolding before her eyes. Her eyes scanned across to the female agent, who barely registered her presence as she stared on in shock, the phone in her hand slipping towards the floor. Before it crashed to the ground, a loud masculine voice reverberated out of the ear-piece, "What the HELL is going on?"

**NCIS**

The only response Gibbs received was the ominous sound of the phone hitting the floor, closely followed by a dial tone; he slung his piece of crap cell onto the ground, _what the hell was going on_?


End file.
